Authors: Karen Noland
“Really?” Jo’s eyes were
large and shining.
Rising, Mahseet went to sit
beside the still boy. He placed a hand softly on the bandaged arm, and murmured
quietly in the language of his people. Kate was touched by the tender concern
of the man. She prayed again for God’s healing upon Nocona’s life.
The door opened admitting shafts
of golden sunlight along with the men and both dogs. Jon seemed concerned at
the presence of the Indians, but Jake was accustomed to them, having been a
freighter in the Indian Territory for so long.
“Maruawe,” greeted Jake. Two dark
heads turned in surprise, to hear a greeting in their native tongue.
“Maruawe,” answered Tochoway,
“you speak Nuumu?”
“Naw, not really, just a word
here and there. How’s the boy?” Jake asked, indicating the pallet near the
fireplace.
Tochoway looked at Kate. Her sad
eyes and pale complexion spoke volumes. “He’s in God’s hands now,” was all she
could say.
The Insley men ate a hearty meal,
while Jake kept up a lively conversation with Tochoway. Jo and Jon listened
with delight, Jo chattering and asking questions whenever she could. It was
decided that Jon would ride the fence line, mending breaks where he was able,
and determining what supplies would be necessary for the rest of the repairs,
while Jake would see to the plowing. Jon’s face shone at the responsibility he
had been given, and Jo was filled with pride for her friend as she watched the
men leave for the day’s work.
Kate and Jo set about
clearing the table and washing the dishes while the Indians kept watch over the
boy. A slight moan caught Kate’s attention and she hurried to the patient.
Mahseet stroked the boy’s feverish head, while Kate felt for a pulse. Nocona’s
eyes fluttered, finally opening. They were clouded and unfocused at first, but
it was a good sign. He seemed to be gaining strength. Kate stepped aside, not
wanting his first sight to be a strange white woman. Mahseet spoke quietly,
still stroking Nocona’s head. The boy turned trying to focus on his
surroundings. Mahseet soothed him, and Nocona closed his eyes again, sinking
back into the warm blankets.
Kate approached again, his pulse
was stronger, no longer weak and rapid. He was sleeping now, deeply and
restfully. She smiled, saying a prayer of thanksgiving in her heart. As she
turned to the waiting men, the radiant glow that suffused her tired features
told them that all would be well.
***
The rest of the morning passed
quickly, Nocona continuing to gain strength. Kate fed him a rich meaty broth,
which he sipped readily from a spoon, though still wary of the strange woman.
Jo promptly appointed herself nursemaid and companion to the young man,
chattering at him and sharing with him her few valued possessions and toys.
Nocona seemed to take an interest in the small red-haired vision, reaching out
occasionally to touch her soft hair or take a proffered toy.
Tochoway watched the pair
silently for a while then turned to Kate, “Your girl has healing spirit, like
mother.”
“Thank you,” she said simply,
also enjoying the sight of the children.
“Hallo in there! Kate?” Came a
deep masculine voice. Starting, Kate stared at Tochoway, afraid for him and the
others. Tochoway, realizing her fear, motioned to Mahseet and Nocona, the three
retreating to the furthest corner of the kitchen. He nodded silently to her.
She took a deep breath and opened
the door. Stepping into the bright afternoon sun, she closed the door quickly
and strode to the edge of the porch. There before her sitting on a large bay
colt was Matt Johnson. “Matt! What are you doing around these parts?” She asked
in disbelief, trying to mask the fear in her voice.
“On my way to Fallis for a spell.
I can see why you are reluctant to part with this place, Kate. You’ve a fine
ranch here.”
“Yes.” She said tersely, seeing
the avaricious glint in his hazel eyes.
“Kate, I know how hard the last
few months have been for you, and I realized just the other night that I’d made
a mistake in the money I gave your man last week.”
“His name is Jake. You know
he’s not my hired man!” She fairly bristled at the inference in Matt’s voice.
Just then she noticed two other men, and a string of horses in the distance.
“My men,” Matt said following her
gaze. “I really only wanted to stop by and give you the money you’re due,” he
continued.
Matt’s
words brought Kate back to him abruptly. “What?” She asked wonderingly.
“Here.”
She stepped down from the porch
and approached the man on horseback. Only then did she recognize the bay colt
that she had sent with Jake just last week. The horse seemed spiritless, almost
dull. She wondered briefly what had happened to the fire and vigor she
remembered. Taking the envelope he held out, she slowly opened it, finding two
hundred dollars within.
“Matt, I.....”
“I know. I can’t imagine how you
must have felt, thinking I’d cheated you on those steers I took to market for
you. I do hope this sets things to rights between us?” His hard eyes belied the
words of atonement as he gazed down upon her.
She smiled uneasily, tucking the
envelope safely into a pocket. “Well, thank you,” she said hoping he would
leave.
Matt sat silently watching her,
his scrutiny raising new fears within her.
“I’d ask you in to coffee,
but
-
uh
-
well, Jo isn’t feeling well, and ...” she hesitated searching for something to
say. Her eyes strayed again to the waiting cowboys near the barn, widening in
surprise as she recognized the ponies matching Tochoway’s description.
“Those are some nice looking horses,
there. Where’re they from?” She asked.
Surprised, Matt looked over his
shoulder at his men. “Oh, here and there. Taking them to Fallis, thought I’d
sell them there.”
“You know I’m always looking for
good stock. Mind if I have a look?” She didn’t wait for an answer but started
towards the barn. Matt, turning the colt, followed her.
There were six horses tied
loosely together. The three belonging to the Comanche, by far the best of the
lot. Kate looked at each horse with a practiced eye, as though evaluating each
individual. Finally she turned to face Matt who had dismounted and stood
watching her with the same calculating appraisal she had used on the ponies.
“I’d give you sixty dollars for those three,” she said indicating the three
Comanche ponies.
He frowned, “I couldn’t take less
than a hundred.”
“Matt, you and I both know you
wouldn’t get more than twenty apiece for them in Fallis. Look how skinny they
are, and that one there has an abscess in her left rear, if I’m not mistaken.
I’ll give you seventy-five, and save you the trouble of hauling them all that
way.”
“You sure you can afford to part
with that kind of money?”
She knew she couldn’t, but
given the circumstances, she knew she had to. “You let me worry about what I
can afford, and what I can’t,” she stated boldly. “Is it a deal?”
“All right,” he decided,
motioning for one of his men to loose the ponies. She reached into her pocket,
pulling out the money she hadn’t known would be hers, thinking once again how providentially
God always supplied her every need. She counted out the bills and handed them
to Matt, flinching inwardly as his hand brushed hers.
She took the leads the cowboy
handed her, and watched as the men mounted their horses, wanting them gone quickly.
The cowboys struck off with the remaining horses in tow.
Matt waiting until they had moved
off a ways, turned back to her, “Kate, there’s going to be a circuit riding
preacher in Fallis this Sunday. I’d be delighted if you and Jo would join me at
the meeting and the picnic after.”
Taken aback by his invitation,
Kate flushed. “If there’s to be a preacher, then you can be sure that we’ll be
in attendance. It will be nice to see you there as well.”
It wasn’t an actual acceptance,
but Matt nodded, tipped his hat, and rode off at a trot to join his men.
Kate stood rooted to the
ground staring after the men disappearing beyond the distant horizon. Only when
she was certain they were gone, did she turn and start back to the house. As
she approached, leading the three quiet horses, the door opened and Jo dashed
out, “Oh, momma, wherever did you get those pretty ponies? Can I ride one,
please? Are we going to keep them?”
Tochoway and Mahseet appeared on
the porch, amazement written plainly across their faces. “You truly great
puha.”
“Puha?” Kate echoed.
Tochoway shook his head, clearly
trying to find the English to express his thoughts. “Medicine
-
power
-
spirit
-
great in here,” he said placing his hand gently upon her chest, just over her
heart.
“I do have a wonderful spirit in
there,” she replied, “but that Spirit is not my own,” her eyes glistened with
unshed tears.
He nodded stepping away from her.
“We will leave now.”
“Oh, but Nocona, he’s too
weak...”
“We must go.” Taking the single
feather that adorned his braid, he tucked it behind her ear. “The hawk soars
above the earth and sees all, so my spirit will watch over you.” He brushed her
cheek lightly with the back of his hand before taking the lead ropes from her.
Mahseet was already carrying
Nocona to one of the horses. He placed the boy gently on the pony, then deftly
mounted behind him. Tochoway took the other two ponies. Mounting one, he held
the other’s lead. She knew he was right. It was dangerous for them to stay any
longer. Her heart ached for the boy, praying for his safety, and that of the
others as well, the tears slipped unbidden down her cheeks.
A quiet chanting filled the
still air:
“Taa Ahpu tomoba?atu,
nansuwukaitu u nahnia.
U tekwapuha pitaruibe siku
sokoba?a tomoba?atu nakwu waitusu.
Numi maaka ukiitsi tabeni numu
tuhkarui.
Nu tusuuna aiku numu hanipukatu.
Numi tusuuna.
Keta aituku numi muhneetu.
Aitukutu numi
taakonin/tsaakuan.
Taa Ahpu nansuwukai suana.
Suni yutui o.”
Though the Nuumu words held no meaning
for Kate, she felt a stirring in her soul, as the significance of the prayer
reached deeper than mere words, “Our Father, which art in Heaven, hallowed be
they name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven....”
she began.
Tochoway’s dark eyes held hers,
he nodded slowly. Raising a hand in farewell, they turned their ponies to the
south.
The small town of Rush Springs
sprawled before them. An early morning fog lay thickly over the prairie. Wet
droplets clung to the horses’ manes and dripped from the saddles, muffling the
sounds of creaking leather and the rhythmic beat of the horses’ hooves. The
thick gray mist obscured many of the buildings in town from this distance, but
a stark white church and the lonely graveyard beside it on a hill above the
town were painfully visible to the two silent men.
Luke stole a glance in Joe’s
direction. The utter despair written clearly upon the face of his companion was
almost more than Luke could bear. He remembered his own stabbing pain at his
mother’s death, the silence that had fallen over his father, and the rift that
had separated father from son.
“Lord, protect this man,
let him see Your mercy and Your grace in this trying time. Let him not be torn
from his family - show him the healing that you have denied me.”
Luke
prayed silently, but fervently, bitter gall rising in him at the hatred he
still felt after all these years.
In an attempt to escape the
haunting memories, he kicked his gray gelding into a trot. Joe’s bay followed,
and they quickly approached the outskirts of Rush Springs.
***
A tall woman with auburn hair and
green eyes emerged from the small frame house. She wore a simple gray mourning
dress which only accentuated her handsome looks. As the morning mist swirled
around her, she took on an ethereal, otherworldly appearance.
“Joe!” Annie cried in her husky
voice. A mixture of emotions played across her delicate features; the joy of
seeing her brother mingled with sadness for his grief.
Joe dismounted and ran into the
open arms of his sister’s embrace. At long last the emotions he had hidden
within the depths of his soul burst forth, and he wept openly against her
chest. Annie held her brother tightly, stroking his hair, rocking him gently,
while gazing beyond him into the face of Luke Josey. Luke reached down and
picked up the reins of Joe’s mare, painfully aware of the woman standing before
him. Giving Annie a brief nod, he turned to find the livery.
***
The fog that had been so
pervasive that morning was melting quickly under the warm golden rays now
shining through from the eastern sky. The horses were snug in their stalls
eating a well-deserved ration of oats and hay. With a final glance at the
animals, Luke paid the smith for a week’s board, and headed towards Annie’s
house.